Her Daddy's Eyes
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Regina spends the afternoon splitting time between work and cuddling her niece.


This was a prompt submitted to me by an anonymous user on Tumblr from a sentence starter meme that I reblogged:

"C'mere, you can sit in my lap until I'm done working."

They said either Dimples Queen or Regal Peanut, the latter of which that I never wrote about, so I figured I'd give it a go.

* * *

Regina was halfway through her e-mail to the head of the union when she heard a tiny voice from behind her.

"Auntie Gina?"

Regina spun around in her chair and looked down at the little girl. "Yes?"

"I'm thirsty."

Regina nodded and got up, heading into the kitchen. Her 4-year-old niece was hot on her trail the entire time. She seemed almost disappointed when she was handed her sippy cup.

"What? I thought you liked apple juice," Regina told her.

"I do."

"Then what's wrong."

Robyn sighed. "Nothing."

"Okay…"

Regina headed back to her desk to finish up her e-mail. She had so much work to get done that day. Things had been kind of hectic ever since she had accepted guardianship of Robyn and she had been putting things off. Henry was off at college and everyone else was busy with work, so she had no one to watch her. Luckily, most of her work could be done at home.

She hadn't remembered kids being so busy when Henry was little, but that was probably selective memory. Henry had been probably even more active than Robyn was. Regina went through several babysitters who just couldn't handle his rambunctious attitude. Even so, she was a tad out of practice. Becoming Robyn's guardian had been a fairly recent development, onet hat was taking a lot of adjusting.

"Auntie Gina," Robyn's voice rang out again not ten minutes later.

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

"Could you wait just 15 minutes?"

"No. I'm really, really hungry."

Regina sighed and pressed send on her e-mail. Robyn had already eaten lunch, but there was some time before dinner, so she figured she could have a snack. Getting up and going into the kitchen again, she cut up an apple and put a dollop of peanut butter next to it on the plate. As she started to leave the room again, she could see Robyn wasn't happy.

"Robyn?"

Robyn looked up, a sad pout on her face. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Something. You've had that pout on your face ever since I came through here earlier."

"What are you doing?"

"I have some work to get done."

"Oh. Can I help?"

"It's boring and for grown ups, you wouldn't have any fun."

"Oh," Robyn repeated, picking at the apple slices in front of her.

Regina tilted her head, frowning. She hated seeing Robyn so upset. So badly, she wanted to just say screw it and put off her work so they could go do something fun, like feed the ducks. However, she also knew that would only mean another day like this one. She racked her brain for what she used to do with Henry and got an idea.

"C'mere, you can sit in my lap until I'm done working."

Robyn's pout fell and her eyes lit up. "Really?"

Regina nodded and held out her hand with a smile. Robyn hopped off the chair and rushed to her aunt, accepting it. They walked back to the office and Regina got settled into her chair. She pulled Robyn onto her lap and found her teddy bear sitting on the desk. Regina put it in her hands and got back to work, keeping one arm around her niece at all times.

As she neared the end of her paperwork, she glanced down at the little girl. Robyn had received her mother's copper colored hair, but her eyes were all her father's: bright blue. She was like him in so many ways. She hated being cooped up in the house and would spend every day outside if she could. She felt naturally drawn to the woods, causing Regina to look more into camping than she would've otherwise.

(And she knows wherever he is, Robin is laughing at her, saying "I told you so".)

Robyn had so much attitude in her-something that was both a Hood and Mills trait in her. Though other times she could be quiet, serene. Given the crazy town they lived in, she adapted to new situations rather quickly.

When Robyn was a baby, after the showdown with Hades, Regina found it hard to look at her niece. She just saw so much of Robin in her every time. However, 4 years later, she could study her face for hours and never get bored.

"Well, I'm about done for the day," Regina announced, putting the paperwork into the manila envelope it belonged in. "I have to drop this off at the post office, but after that what do you say we head to the park and feed the ducks?"

Robyn looked up at her, beaming. "Okay!"

"Great, go get your shoes on."

Robyn scrambled off her lap, only a whirlwind of curls could be seen as she darted out of the room. Regina leant back in her chair, looking over at the sole picture she had of her and Robin.

"She's quite a wild one," she whispered with a smile. "I only wish you could see her."

(And somewhere, Robin is smiling, completely proud of both his girls.)

* * *

As always, prompts are accepted on my Tumblr accounts: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction!


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